Large-size toy brick

ABSTRACT

A large-size toy brick made of a soft material, more specifically of foam, said brick ( 1, 10, 20 ) being provided, on at least one top side thereof, with at least one groove ( 22 ) for slidable reception of a connecting member ( 30 ) devised for connection with a neighboring brick ( 1, 10, 20 ) provided with a mating groove ( 22 ), the at least one groove ( 22 ) and the associated connecting member ( 30 ) being configured to provide a form-positive connection in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the assembled bricks ( 1, 10, 20 ).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The invention relates to a large-size toy brick made of a soft material, more specifically of foam.

[0002] Some children suffer strongly retarded motoric development. To foster the development of such children's movement skills, a variety of toys are known that are also designed for developing skills in recognizing logical patterns.

[0003] The subject matter of the invention is a large-size toy brick made of a soft material that, on the one side, develops the motoric abilities of the children when they assemble such bricks in order to build a house or a wall for example and that, on the other side, develops their skills in recognizing logical patterns.

[0004] Such type bricks are also suited for the physically and mentally disabled, children in particular, and in ergotherapy, for use with Parkinson's disease patients for example.

[0005] In accordance with the invention, such a brick is characterized in that it is provided, on at least one top side thereof, with at least one groove for slidable reception of a connecting member devised for connection with a neighboring brick provided with a mating groove, the at least one groove and the associated connecting member being configured to provide a form-positive connection in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the assembled bricks. Such type large-size bricks being made of a soft material, more specifically of foam, the use thereof presents no risk of injury to children assembling such bricks; moreover, such soft toy bricks feel pleasant to the touch.

[0006] Further advantageous features will become apparent in the subclaims.

[0007] There is more specifically provided that two grooves are arranged in such a manner that the grooves intersect on at least one top side of the brick, preferably at an angle of 90°. This provides a greater variability in the utilization of the bricks, an additional advantage being that the intersecting grooves compel the children to recognize that, if one connecting member is already seated within a groove, a second connecting member of the same length cannot be inserted into the groove of this brick in the same way, this also applying to the crosswise insertion of connecting members, of course. Meaning, the children are encouraged to recognize logical patterns when assembling such bricks.

[0008] With regard to the connecting member, there is furthermore provided that the connecting member is configured to be symmetrical about at least one axis. The connecting member in particular has a head portion and an end portion joined together by a crosspiece, head portion and end portion being advantageously identical in configuration. Both the brick and the connecting member are made of a foam, more specifically of polyether foam, which not only reduces the risk of injury to a child playing with such bricks, but also is particularly pleasant to the touch.

[0009] Both the brick and the connecting member are advantageously provided with a coating such as of PUR for sealing the surface thereof. This provides the advantage that the bricks may be cleaned and that sliding the connecting members into the corresponding groove of the brick is facilitated since the coating reduces friction during insertion thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] The invention will be described in greater detail herein after with reference to the drawing in which

[0011]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wall built with the bricks of the invention and with the corresponding connecting members;

[0012]FIG. 2 is a first embodiment of a brick shown in various views;

[0013]FIG. 3 shows a brick according to FIG. 1 which is configured as a square;

[0014]FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of a brick according to FIGS. 1 or 2 with a slanting top side;

[0015]FIG. 5 shows a first embodiment of a connecting member that may be configured to be short to match the brick according to FIG. 3, or long as shown in FIG. 5 to match a brick according to FIG. 2;

[0016] FIGS. 6 to 13 show various embodiments of connecting members; the important point is that the bricks have mating grooves.

[0017] The perspective representation according to FIG. 1 illustrates the variability in the utilization of such large-size bricks for building walls or small houses. It more specifically shows three different sizes of bricks 1, 10 and 20. These bricks 1, 10 and 20 share the feature that they have on at least one top side thereof, and this applies particularly to brick 20, two paralleled grooves 22 with a groove 23 intersecting these at right angles. The same approach applies to both brick 1 and brick 10, the only difference between these two bricks being in their size.

[0018] As already explained, the various bricks 1, 10 and 20 are provided with corresponding grooves 22 for the assembling thereof. To join the various bricks together, connecting members 30, which may have different lengths to match the size of the bricks, are inserted into the grooves 22. Such a connecting member has a head portion 30 a and an identical end portion 30 b that are joined by a crosspiece 30 c. In configuring the connecting members 30 it is important, and this particularly applies to the connecting member according to FIG. 5, that they display mirror-image symmetry about two axes to facilitate a child's building activity. The connecting members, and as a result thereof the grooves, may also be configured to display mirror-image symmetry about only one axis instead of two in order to place higher demands on a child's movement skills and on its ability to recognize logical patterns.

[0019] The FIGS. 5 through 13 show the various connecting elements which, in principle, share the feature that they all display mirror-image symmetry about at least one axis. 

We claim:
 1. A large-size toy brick made of a soft material, more specifically of foam, characterized in that the brick (1, 10, 20) is provided, on at least one top side thereof, with at least one groove (22) for slidable reception of a connecting member (30) devised for connection with a neighboring brick (1, 10, 20) provided with a mating groove (22), the at least one groove (22) and the associated connecting member (30) being configured to provide a form-positive connection in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the assembled bricks (1, 10, 20).
 2. The large-size toy brick according to claim 1, characterized in that two grooves (22) are arranged in such a manner that the grooves (22) intersect on at least one top side of the brick (1, 10, 20).
 3. The large-size toy brick according to claim 2, characterized in that the grooves (22) intersect at an angle of 90°.
 4. The large-size toy brick according to claim 1, characterized in that the connecting member (30) displays mirror-image symmetry about at least one axis.
 5. The large-size toy brick according to claim 1, characterized in that the connecting member (30) has a head portion (30 a) and an end portion (30 b) joined together by a crosspiece (30 c).
 6. The large-size toy brick according to claim 5, characterized in that the head portion (30 a) and the end portion (30 b) are identical in configuration.
 7. The large-size toy brick according to claim 1, characterized in that the connecting member (30) has a cross-section in the form of a double T profile.
 8. The large-size toy brick according to claim 1, characterized in that the brick (1, 10, 20) is made of polyether foam.
 9. The large-size toy brick according claim 1, characterized in that the brick (1, 10, 20) is provided with a coating such as of PUR for sealing the surface thereof. 